It’s all change for the Business Improvement Districts of North Herts – as Hitchin and Letchworth both welcome new BID managers.
Tom Hardy, who took over as Letchworth BID manager two years ago, has left to take over at the Hitchin equivalent – where he will work alongside long-serving town centre boss Keith Hoskins.
Letchworth BID’s board has promoted events manager Patricia Saunders to replace Tom with immediate effect. He will take over in Hitchin on March 1.
Tom said: “I’m very much looking forward to the new exciting challenges I’m no doubt going to face. Keith Hoskins has done a fantastic job working tirelessly over the past 20 years to improve and sustain the vibrancy and prosperity of the town.
“It’s an honour to be given this opportunity to further progress the work of the BID, which has become such an important part of Hitchin town centre.”
Hitchin and Letchworth BIDs are funded by levies from town centre businesses – organising events, town centre rangers, Christmas lights and much more to help attract visitors. Both BIDs run on five-year terms, and businesses in each town are set to vote on renewal early next year.
Keith, who will continue as Hitchin Initiative manager for the next 12 months, told the Comet he was thrilled to have Tom taking over ahead of the Hitchin BID renewal ballot.
He said: “Tom personifies the next stages in the town’s evolution with its changing demographic. I look forward a great deal to working with him in the coming year to pass on some of the experience that I’ve amassed since 1997 and helping to ensure a smooth transition.”
Tom, who is from Letchworth, joined his hometown BID in 2016 after almost six years running events at Hertford Castle.
His work to attract people to Letchworth town centre included founding an annual beer and world food festival and setting up a 70m water slide in Leys Avenue.
Letchworth BID chairman Chris Gerard said Tom had been “a super asset to the town”. He added that the BID board was proud and pleased to promote Patricia to replace him.
Patricia grew up in Letchworth and lives in the town with her husband Chris and children Thomas, 11, and Hanna, five.
She is delighted to be taking over and looks forward to working with the town businesses to build on Letchworth BID’s successes.
To find out more about the BIDs, have a look at hitchinherts.com and loveletchworth.com.
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